# Easiest video game ever
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 23, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688 "2003-04-23T21:19:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/1 "2003-04-23T21:19:42Z")
Obviously inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=178690)…
What is the easiest video game you’ve ever encountered?
My vote goes way back in time to Defender on the Atari 2600. After about a week, I discovered that you can pretty much play forever at any difficulty level if you stick to one rule:
Shoot the bomber last.
There were other details, like make sure the mutant takeovers (which didn’t have bombers) were close to the end of a 5-wave cycle (which is when a mutant takeover ends).
What else is ridiculously easy?
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### Author:  [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/2 "2003-04-23T21:25:14Z")
Atari Asteroids.
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### Author:  [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/3 "2003-04-23T21:31:47Z")
Yep, that’s another one (Asteroids)… you shouldn’t ever have to move your ship from the center of the screen unless you fucked up shooting the rocks.
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### Author:  [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/4 "2003-04-23T21:37:51Z")
I don’t know if this counts per se, but I was part of the testing for the ‘Monster Jam’ game for the PS2. In one of the mini-games (before we fixed it) there was this long, nigh-unto-unwinnable road-race. Before fixing, however, there was a quick right-turn at the start of the race that would bring you straight to the finish line. The AI vehicles never took that turn.
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### Author:  [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/5 "2003-04-23T21:55:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Yep, that’s another one (Asteroids)… you shouldn’t ever have to move your ship from the center of the screen unless you fucked up shooting the rocks.
Are you referring to the coin-op version with the buttons or the Atari 2600 version with the joystick?
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/6 "2003-04-23T21:55:53Z")
Joe Montana Sportstalk Football for the Sega Genesis on the easy setting. Even if you were on your own 10-yard line on first down at the beginning of the first quarter, a fake field goal and quick pass would always fake out the computer and be good for a touchdown.
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### Author:  [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/7 "2003-04-23T22:19:50Z")
Pac-man, since all that was required was memorizing a bunch of patterns.
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### Author:  [@Severian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Severian)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/8 "2003-04-23T23:09:02Z")
I could go on and on with a list of games that are easy to me _now_, but were challenging for a time when they were new to me. Are there any games you can remember beating your first time through?
Right now, I can’t think of any.
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### Author:  [@greatZebu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greatZebu)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/9 "2003-04-24T00:49:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by neutron star \*
> \*\*Joe Montana Sportstalk Football for the Sega Genesis \*\*
I second this nomination. Even on higher difficulty ratings it was trivial to utterly destroy the computer–you could get a tackle in the backfield on just about every play on defense and there were several offensive plays that went for touchdowns just about every time. I think I won one game 215-0.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/10 "2003-04-24T01:31:06Z")
Contra.
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### Author:  [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/11 "2003-04-24T02:20:08Z")
I think it is [Monkey’s Paradise](http://www.degenatron.com/).
(careful, somewhat noisy page)
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### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/12 "2003-04-24T02:29:20Z")
Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. I finished it in little bits all totaling about 6 hours. It was fun.
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### Author:  [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/13 "2003-04-24T05:09:50Z")
_Guerilla War_ and _Rampage_ for the NES. Forget codes, the games let you continue forever anyway. The only thing that was hard about Rampage was not getting bored playing through the whole game (god bless emulators).
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/14 "2003-04-24T06:35:08Z")
[Adventure.](http://www.scottpehnke.com/programming/flash.htm)
I hadn’t played that in probably 18-20 years, and I still remember how to get through the “maze”.
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### Author:  [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/15 "2003-04-24T06:44:56Z")
PONG…yep that’s it…I win 😃
I actually had an old pong that was pre-electronic/video game era. It was a plastic box that looked like a TV. There was a ping pong ball in the box and a fan that floated the ball back and forth across the screen. On each side were paddles that were moved with a knob (like an etch-a-sketch) attached to the knobs were rubber bands which controlled the paddles.
Then came the electronic age (quarter videos at the pizza joints and pinball machines) and finally Atari. All the while, PONG was being re-created.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/16 "2003-04-24T06:51:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Smeghead \*
> \*\*[Adventure.](http://www.scottpehnke.com/programming/flash.htm)
>
> I hadn’t played that in probably 18-20 years, and I still remember how to get through the “maze”. \*\*
Ah, but did you find the golden dot? (What a great game. It was simple, but I played it over and over.)
An easier game was called, I think “Star Commander” or something. You went through spacewarps, and were supposed to shoot enemies on the way. However, if you pushed your joystick straight up, you could outrun them until you got to the next stargate. You could finish the game this way without breaking a sweat.
For computer games, I bought a version of Jeopardy in order to practice for the real thing. I never lost it. If only the real show were that easy.
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### Author:  [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/17 "2003-04-24T06:57:50Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ElwoodCuse \*
> \*\*_Guerilla War_ and _Rampage_ for the NES. Forget codes, the games let you continue forever anyway. The only thing that was hard about Rampage was not getting bored playing through the whole game (god bless emulators). \*\*
Guerilla War…Ah yes. Also, famous because it’s the only game I can remember that lets you play a communist revolutionary and fight the US.
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### Author:  [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/18 "2003-04-24T06:59:55Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Mahaloth \*
> \*\*Contra. \*\*
It’s not that easy. Particulary when you need the 30 lives code to beat it.
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### Author:  [@TOO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TOO)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/19 "2003-04-24T07:15:58Z")
I remember a Nintendo game called Super Dodge Ball that I could beat with incredible ease. All you had to do was fire your super shot repeatedly at the opponent with the main character, and they were toast. It was actually easier than it sounds.
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### Author:  [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-video-game-ever/170688/20 "2003-04-24T09:37:10Z")
_Hudson Hawk_ on the Game Boy. Great graphics, but helluva easy to beat.
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